Saturday, November 15, 2008

Proposition 8

Protesters of California's new law, which defines marriage in a perniciously narrow way, walked through DC's tourism district shouting "What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want it? Now! (Whose idea was it to say "When do we want it" instead of "When do we want them"?)

Protesters carried signs bearing slogans such as "Straight Against 8" and "Married Gays Have Less Gay Sex" and "All I want for Christmas is equal rights." Unlike in some other protests, the crowd did not have a clear target or demon to attack. There were no calls for the impeachment of President Bush or the abolition of Wal-Mart. Indeed, the new law was enacted directly by the citizens of California during an election with record turnout by several minorities.

What was the purpose of the march? More likely than serving as a tool for change, one protester said, the protest was a meaningful activity for those who participated.

1 Comments:

I think what I said (or meant to say) was that I think protests are mostly valuable to the people who participate in them. "Meaningful" to me makes it sound like the protest could be an echo chamber and still be considered a success as long as I as a participant come away from it feeling somehow fulfilled. I would say that "valuable" is a more inclusive word, because for some people I'm sure the protest is an end unto itself, but in my case, it serves to energize me, give me hope, and gives me ideas for me to talk to family members (my sister, mainly) about why I support gay marriage.

Thanks for coming today--sorry we didn't meet up with you until the end. By the way, we totally should have accepted your ride offer--because of motorcades and other traffic issues, it took us an hour to get home on the bus.